Under new President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who rose to power following a defacto military coup that forced Robert Mugabe to resign in November, the government is trying to assure foreign investors that their money is safe in Zimbabwe.

Mangudya added that Zimbabwe, where Mnangagwa is trying to woo foreign investors, was also arranging a $400m facility to ensure payments for critical imports and allow investors to repatriate funds.

Investor confidence

“Such guarantees and liquidity support are necessary to protect investors’ funds from country risk, and in doing so, enhancing investor confidence,” Mangudya said in a monetary policy speech.

Mangudya also announced a raft of measures that he said would help the economy, including increased financial support to small-scale gold miners and tobacco farmers. The two commodities generate the highest export earnings for the country.

The central bank governor also said the bank would work to reduce government’s borrowing from the bank. The government has overdraft of $1.2bn instead of $800m permissible under the law, Mangudya said.